Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1887-07-01
"a '!!i, a. h. ' :' gsIl sEsiss. IssH,lEss

ssn,a Ne, si,a, N I'll XII sl.s ssl' tjIliR
would have been inbemprehonsiblo 70 hinis4
been burned up alss told him some Of the
horrors we had undergone In effecting our
escape, and these produced a great impression
on him. But l clearly saw that he did not
believe In the report of Ayesha's death. He
believed indeed that we thought that sbo
WINS dead, but his explanation was that IL had
suited her to disappear for while, Once, he
said, in his fathers time she had done so for
| ten years. and there was n tradition In tho
country that many centuries back no one had
| seen her for II whole generation, when sho
| suddenly rcappearcd, and destroyed n woman
who had assumed tho position OF queon. |
said nothing to this, but only shook my head
sadly Alasl knew too well that Ayesha
would appear no more, at any rate that Bill
lali would never see her.
"And now,n concluded Billali, "what
wouldst thou do, my BaboonP
MAY, l said, al know not, my father Can
We not escape from this countryf"
| He shook his head.
ut is very difficult. By Kor ye cannot
pass, for ye would DO seen, md rs soon rs
| those fierce ones found that ye were alone,
well, and he smiled significantly and made
| a movement as though ho were placing hat
on his head "But there Is way over tho
cliff whereof once spake to We, whore they
drive the cattle out to pasture. Then beyond
the pastures are three days journey through
the marshes, and after that l know not, but
have heard that seven days journey from
thence Is mighty river which floweth TO the
| black water If ye could come thither, per-
chance ye might escape, but how can 20
| como thitherP
"Bnlali,p / said, "once, thou lnowest, did
save thy life. Now pay back the debt, my
| father, and save me mino and my friends,
the Lions. 1t shall be pleasant thing for
| A.. 81
something to set in the scale against the evil
doing of thy days, il perchance thou Inst
done any evil. Also, IL thou be right, md il
She doth but hide herself, surely when she
comes again she shall reward thee"
"My son the Baboon," answered the old
man, ''think not that have an ungrateful
heart. Well do | remember how thou dldst
rescue me when those dogs stood by to see mo
drown. Measure for measure will give thee,
and il thou canst be saved, surely will savo
thee. Listen: by dawn tomorrow be pre-
pared, for filters shall be here TO bear ye
away across the mountains, and through the
marshes beyond This will do, saying that
il IS tho word of She that it be done, and he
who obeyeth not the word of She food is no
! for the hyenas Then when ye have crossed
the marshes, We must strike with your own
hand, so that perchance, IL good fortune go
with yc, ye may live to come to that black
water whereof ye told me. And now, see, the
made ready for yer
Ieois condition when once he was fairly
aroused proved not to be so bad as might have
been expected from his appearance, and wo
both OF us managed to eat a hearty meal,
which indeed wc needed sadly enough After
this we lmped down to the spring and
bathed, and then came back and slept again
till evening, when We once more ate enough
for five. Billali was away all That day, no
doubt making arrangements about litters and
bearers, for we were Weakened in tho middle
of the night by the arrival of q considerable
number OF men in the little camp.
At dawn the old man himself appeared,
and told us that no had, by using She's
dreaded name though with some difficulty,
succeeded in getting the necessary men and
two guides to conduct us across the swamps,
md that he urged us to start at once, ut tho
same time announcing his intention OF nc
companying us, so us to protect us against
treachery ] was much touched by this act
of kindness on the part of that willy old bar
barian toward two utterly defcnseless strnn-
gers. A three-or in his case, for he would
have TO return. six-days' journey through
those deadly swamps was no light undertake
ing for man Of his age, but lSe CONSENTED TO
it cheerfully in order TO promote our safety
IL shows that oven among those dreadful
Amahagger-who are certainly, with their
gloom and their devilish and ferocioua rites
by far the most terrible savnges that over
heard of-there are people with kindly hoartS.
OF course self interest may have had some
thing 10 do with it He may have thought
that She would suddenly reappear and de
mand an account of us at his hands: but
still, allowing for all deductions, II WIS a
great deal moro than we could expect under
the circumstances, and can only say that
shall for as long as live cherish q most af-
fectionate remembrance of my nominal
parent, old Billali
Accordingly, after swallowing some food,
we started in the filters, feeling, so far as
our bodies went, wonderfully like our old
selves after our long rest and sleep. l must
leave tho condition OF our minds to the imngi-
nation.
Then came terrible pull up the cliff.
Sometimes the ascent WIS natural, more often
it was q zigza9 roadway cut, no doubt, In the
first instance by tho old inhabitants Of K0r. The
Amahagger say they drive their spare cattle over
it once year to pasture outside; all know is
that those cattle must be uncommonly active on
their feet. or course the ltterS were useless here,
SO we had 10 walk.
For three whole days, through stencil and mire,
and the all prevailing flavor OF fever, did our
bearers struggle along, till ut length we came to
open, rolling ground, quite mlcultvated, and
mostly treeess, but covered with game Of oil
sorts which lies beyond that almost desolate, and
without guides utterly imprncticable, district.
And here on the following morning we babe fare
WELL not without some regret, to old Billnli, who
stroked his white beard, and solemnly blessed US;
farewell to thee, o Lion. | can do no moro to
help e. But II ever ye come to your own coun-
try, be advised, and venture no more into lands
that ye know not, lest ye come back no more, but
leave your white bones to mark the limit OF your
journeyings Farewell once more; often shall
think ofye, nor wilt thou forget me, my Baboon,
for though thy face Is ugly thy heart IL true.
And then he turned and went, and with him went
the tall and sullen looking bearers, and that was
the last that we saw OF the Amahagger. We
watched them winding away with the empty lit
tiers like a procession bearing dead men from
battle, till the mists from the marsh gathered
round them and hid them, and then, left utterly
desolnte in the vast Wilderness we turned and
gazed around us and at each other.
Three weeks or so kefore, four men had entered
the marshes of Kor, and now two OF us were
dead, and the other two had gone through adven-
lures and experiences SO strange and terrible
that death himself hath not more fearful coun-
tenance. Three weeks-and only three weeks
Truly time should be measured by events and not
by the lapse of hours. IL seemed like thirty
years since we saw the last Of our whaleboat.
I'VE must strike out for the Zambesi, Leo" |
said, "but God knows II we shall ever get there"
Leo nodded lie had become very silent Of
late, and we started with nothing but the clothes
we stood in, compass, our reyolvers and express
rifles, and about 800 rounds OF ammunition; and
so ended the history OF our visit 10 the ruins Of
mighty Kor
As for the adventures that subsequently befell
us, strange and varied as they were, have, after
deiiberatlon. determined not TO record them here
In these pages have only tried to give O short
and clear account Of an occurrence which be-
lcNt 70 DC nuNo uonc, nob WIN
n view TO immediate publication, but merely to
put on paper while they are yet fresh in our
memories the details Of our journey and its re-
suit which will, believe, prove interesting to
the world II ever we determine TO mike them
public. This, as at present advised, we do not
intend should be done during our joint lives.
For the rest. II is Of no public interest, re-
sembling II does, the experience Of more
than one Central African traveller. Suffice Il
to say that we did, after Incredible hardships
and privations, reach the Zambesi, which
proved to be about 10 miles south Of where
Billali left us. There we were for six months i'm
prisoned by a savage tribe who believed us to be-
supernatural beings, chiefly on account OF Leo's
youthful face and snow white hair. From these
people we ultimately escaped, and, crossing tho
Zambesi wandered of southwark, where, when
on the point Of starvation, we were sufficiently
fortunate to fall In with half caste Portuguese
elephant hunter who had followed a troop OF ele-
plants further inland than he had ever been be-
fore. This man treated us most Hospitality. and
ultimately through his assistance We, otter in
punorable sufferings and adventures, reached
Delayoa bay more thnn eighteen monthe hom
the day we emerged from the marshes OF KoY,
and the very next day managed to catch one OF
the Donald Currle boats that run ground the
Cape to England Our journey homo was
prosperous one, and we set our foot
on the quay at Southampton exactly two